Quality assessment of Fritillariae Thunbergii Bulbus sold in Taiwan markets using a validated HPLC-UV method combined with hierarchical clustering analysis

The present paper describes the development of a high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet (HPLC-UV) detection method for quantitative determination of peimine and peiminine in Fritillariae Thunbergii Bulbus (FTB). Separation was achieved using a conventional XBridge™ Shield RP 18 column (250 mm × 4.6 mm, internal diameter 3.5 μm) with photodiode array detection at 190–400 nm for UV spectra and 220 nm for quantification. The mobile phase consisted of (A) 0.03% diethylamine aqueous solution and (B) acetonitrile eluted by an isocratic procedure at 45:55 (A:B) over 25 minutes. The method was validated for linearity, limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ), inter- and intra-day precisions, repeatability, stability, and recovery. All the validation results were satisfactory. The developed method was then applied to assay the contents of the two chemical markers in all the FTB samples collected. Based on the contents of the two analytes, hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) was performed to reveal the similarities and differences of the samples.